Men’s basketball ranked ninth in the nation

The men’s basketball team is working hard and gearing up for another exciting season that starts up this week.

The Preseason Coaches’ Poll was announced recently, predicting the Broncos to finish second, trailing behind UC San Diego in the California Collegiate Athletic Association’s 2018-2019 standings.

“We were happy to win the conference and we were happy to get to the NCAA tournament, but our ultimate goal is to win the region and make a dent once we make it to the Elite Eight,” head coach Greg Kamansky said. “I think last year is motivating them a little bit.”

Eight players are returning to the team this year.

This includes three of last year’s starters, All-CCAA First Team and NABC All-West Region performers senior Jordan Ogundiran and juniors William Christmas and Justin Young.

The Broncos return eight players from last years team, three of them were starters. (Courtesy of CPP Athletic Department)

The team has welcomed two transfers this year, both from division one schools.

Forward Elijah Baker-McCoy, redshirted for the University of Louisiana last year, and guard Dwight Ramos spent two years playing at Cal State Fullerton.

“I’m excited to start playing again and just being a part of this team,” Ramos said. “I came here because I knew this was a good school and a good team and I’m just trying to win some games. I’m new, I just have a lot to prove because my first years I didn’t play the way I knew I could, so I’m just trying to come here and prove myself.”

The Broncos are coming back from a 23-7 record last season after clinching the CCAA regular season title and competing in the NCAA championship tournament.

“I think we need to keep building momentum, obviously; we did some good things last year but it is a new year so I think our biggest thing is to not just hold onto what we did last year,” Ogundiran said. “We need to take it in as a new season and just keep playing with a chip on our shoulders and we will do better than last year.”

This will be Kamansky’s 19th year as head coach for the Broncos.

“I’m so proud of these guys that have been in the program because two years ago we had a really tough year. We were 1-8 in conference, which has never happened since I’ve been here,” Kamansky said. “We were very young, we had a lot of freshmen but they hung together and didn’t quit and finished the second half of season that year 9-2 and then we rode that into last year into a conference championship.”

The Broncos will take on Saint Katherine at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m. before heading to Utah to take on Dixie State on Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off.